You’ll start your European vacation tour with a visit to gorgeous Lucerne, Switzerland. With services provided by Monograms®, you’ll have a Local Host® to arrange your sightseeing, free-time recommendations, and any other assistance you need during your 2-night stay in Lucerne. Enjoy a guided walking tour including the Lion Monument, Old Town, Chapel Bridge, the Water Tower, Jesuit Church, and a special highlight excursion to Mount Pilatus. From the German Black Forest of fairytales to the historic canals of Amsterdam, disappear in the magic of this Rhine River cruise with Author Diana Gabaldon. This cruise delivers you to the heart of Europe to explore all the towns and cities along the Rhine River while enjoying panoramic views and spectacular, castle-lined backdrops days and night. Board your Suite Ship and home-away-from-home in Basel, Switzerland before heading to the foot of Kaiserstuhl Mountain (on the French-German border) to find your gateway to Germany’s Black Forest. From there, set sail for Strasbourg, France with its ancient murals and astronomical clock, not to mention quaint shops, delightful bistros and waterfront promenade. The journey continues through Germany with a visit to the ruins of Heidelberg’s castle, the charming wine town of Rüdesheim and, of course, an awe-inspiring pass through the dramatic Rhine Gorge – the most beautiful stretch of the Rhine where dozens of ancient castles tower over the river from cliffs that seem to touch the sky. The last stop in Germany is in the gothic city of Cologne. End this cruise with an exclamation point in the picturesque, canal city of Amsterdam with its world-famous museums and tilting, gabled homes that date back to the “Golden Age. Transfer by high-speed train to Paris to start your Monograms vacation package with 2 nights in “The City of Lights”. Enjoy sightseeing with an expert guide, drive past the Latin Quarter, Les Invalides, Place de la Concorde, Eiffel Tower, and Arc de Triomphe and join a Seine river cruise. You’ll enjoy a guided sightseeing in England’s most famous destination, as well as free time to really get to know the city. Sightseeing includes Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and St. Paul’s Cathedral. Your Monograms vacation package includes the expert assistance of your Local Host® in both Paris and London. Your Romantic Rhine River cruise with stays in Lucerne, Paris, and London provides the perfect combination for a guided European vacation of a lifetime.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam: A good time! That’s what you’ll have in this beautiful capital of the Netherlands, which feels at once like a 17-century city and a bustling modern metropolis. Famous for its canals and extraordinary museums, Amsterdam is also an intimate city with strangely alluring streets and squares.

Cologne

Cologne’s great Gothic Cathedral is a magnificent reminder of man’s ability to create exquisite art from stone. Its lacy twin spires and wonderful stained glass never fail to impress. Miraculously, the Cathedral escaped wartime destruction, unlike most of the city. The Old Town attracts visitors with excellent restaurants, lively taverns, bars and boutiques. The pedestrian-only Hohe-Strasse is a shopper’s paradise, and Eau de Cologne toilet water, trademarked 4711 (the former address), is world famous.

London

Restless, enduring and wonderful, London is Europe’s largest city. And surely, if you have the choice to visit only two or three cities of the world in your lifetime, by all means make one of them London.

The Romans started it all. The city they developed was “the square mile,” – and Londoners still hunt for Roman relics in the Thames. History is everywhere you look in London, yet today the city is as modern and metropolitan as any city on earth.

By day, London is buzzing with the frenetic pace of commerce not even Dickens could have imagined. By night, the excitement and glitter of theatres, cinemas, pubs and restaurants beckons throngs of travellers from around the world. But there is another London, a peaceful London of cool museums, quiet tea rooms, immaculate gardens and hushed churches.

There is Royal London – ancient pageantry in a modern kingdom – with its palaces, pomp and precise manoeuvres at the Changing of the Guard. And there’s outrageous London, the urban gathering ground for Cockney pitchmen, “fringe” theatre and the city’s youth, with their own distinctive style.

London, this extraordinary city of contrasts, holds a stunning abundance of hidden-round-the-corner surprises. You owe it to yourself to explore them all. Here, then, is the London you’ll come to know and remember.

Lucerne

Without doubt one of the prettiest towns in Switzerland, Lucerne lies in the heart of the country on the northern end of the famous lake of Lucerne, the Vierwaldstätter See. Dotted throughout with many Renaissance and Baroque fountains, colourful paintings on the gables and commanded by the exquisite wooden bridge, the Kapellbrücke and Wasserturm, the 13th century octagonal water tower, Lucerne’s character is pure charm.

Spectacular views and sights abound from almost every vantage point in and around Lucerne. The heritage of this historic locale and of Switzerland itself is palpable in every landmark. The Old Town Hall – Altes Rathaus – is a fine example of a Renaissance building whilst the Meseggmauer, City Wall, built between 1350 and 1405 stands proud above
the city. A stroll along the quay takes the visitor past the modern health resort and onto the largest and most important Transport Museum in Europe and the only Planetarium in Switzerland. The famous Lion Monument – Löwendenkmal and the Glacier Garden, a geological phenomenon left over from the Ice Age make for remarkable viewing as do the Pilatus, Dietschiberg or Gütsch mountains peaks surrounding the city.

A short drive from town takes visitors to some of the most breathtaking landscapes on earth. A paddle steamer ride around the Viewaldstätter Lake takes in the majesty and scenery of this beautiful area. A short drive will take you to the nearby winter resorts and many more lakes, This is the alpine range in central Switzerland where you will find glaciers, lush forests, verdant valleys and so much more.

You can find it all in Lucerne from theatre and the arts to star-gazing and folkloric festivals. Lucerne is especially lively during Carnival with lakeside celebrations, Rotsee-boat races, and the international horse races. With such variety, a good time is virtually guaranteed in Lucerne.

Paris

As the French capital, Paris is the commercial, financial, and industrial focus of France, a major transportation hub, and a cultural and intellectual center of international renown. A beautiful city in which tourism is the main industry, Paris is cut by the Seine River. On its stately, formal right (northern) bank are many of the most fashionable streets and shops, and such landmarks as the Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, Louvre, and Sacré Coeur.

The left bank houses governmental offices and is the site of much of the city’s intellectual life. It is known for its old Latin Quarter and for such landmarks as the Sorbonne, the Luxembourg Palace, the Panthéon, and the modern Pompidou Center (see Beaubourg). The historic core of Paris is the Île de la Cité, a small island occupied in part by the Palais de Justice and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. Above the city rises the Eiffel Tower. Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements (boroughs) and governed by a mayor.

A fishing village when it was conquered (52 B.C.) by Caesar, it became an important Roman town. It was a Merovingian capital in the 5th cent. and became the national capital with the accession (987) of Hugh Capet, count of Paris. It flowered as the center of medieval commerce and scholasticism but suffered severely during the Hundred Years War. Paris consistently displayed a rebellious and independent spirit, as in its resistance to Henry IV (1589-93); the first Fronde (1648-49); the revolutions of 1789, 1830, and 1848; and the Commune of Paris (1871). During World War II it was occupied (1940-44) by the Germans but was relatively undamaged.

Rüdesheim

Rüdesheim is a small, very quaint “Bavarian” village in Germany on the Rhine River. Points of interest include the Asbach Brandy Distillery, Cable-car to Niederwald Monument, Medieval Museum of Torture, a Falconry and many wine festivals throughout the year.

Strasbourg

The ancient capital of Alsace it is located in the northeast corner of France near the border with Germany. The city has exchanged hands between France and Germany during the World Wars. It is considered to be at the “crossroads” of Europe and is the home of the European Parliment. Visit the Palais Rohan, home of many famous paintings; La Petite France with its ancient structures; the famous Church of St. Thomas; and the Cathedral of Notre Dame, built in 1439 and the largest building of its type in the World.

Prices are per person, land or cruise only, based on double occupancy. Offer subject to availability and change without notice. Some restrictions may apply. Please ask us for details.

Charges not included in the land vacation price: airfare to and from the start of your vacation; airline baggage fees including checked and/or excess baggage fees; Federal inspection fees for the Federal U.S. Customs and Immigrations; agricultural tax; other per person taxes imposed by government entities; applicable cruise taxes, fees, fares and port charges; passports; visas and vaccinations; transfers; tips to your Tour or Cruise Director, Local Host, driver, Local Guides, and/or ships’ crew; gratuities on ferries, trains, and cruise ships; laundry; telephone; minibar; alcohol, beverages, and food outside of the contracted menu as presented at a hotel or restaurant (these extra items will be billed to you before leaving the hotel, ship, or restaurant); additional excursions and activities not listed as ‘included’ in the itinerary; porterage at airports or train stations; Travel Protection premiums; and all other items of a personal nature.

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